The Dragon Warrior
by skydarius11
Summary: A young girl who's training to face an enemy who cast her from her home needs to seek refuge from an act that most would consider noble, but in the eyes of the world government the penalty is death. So what happens when she finds shelter on an island in the South Blue with its own issues and hidden dangers? Help them out the best she can! One piece elements. R&R.
1. prologue-backstory

Hey guys, this is my first fan-fiction every so I hope you enjoy. Just a little back story of this story. Sky Darius has the power of the drago drago and gale gale fruit. She lived on Skypeia, but when Eneru came to power and took her parents to deal out the death penalty for disrespecting his priests (even though they were the ones being rude in their restaurant) she challenged him. She won and was about to deal the final blow until her mom stopped her from sinking to his level. She spared him, but he landed a cheap shot and cast her off Sky Island. She was only 7 years old. She miraculously survived and landed hard on Spinnacle Island. She was nursed back to health and all she could think about was getting back home and beating Eneru. Charles Rooker, aka Uncle Chuck, who helped her out set her up with one of his old navy buddies, Captain Cain, to have him train her. Captain Cain, who Sky affectionately calls Cap'n and has zoan devil fruit powers that turns him into a panther, takes her to various islands to learn different skills. When she's 14, Cap'n gets her a job as a deliverer for the world government so she can travel and learn on her own for 3 years. After that she'll challenge him to a duel. Her first delivery mission was to bring a package to the Celestial Dragons. When she arrived and delivered it, one of the slaves recognized the logo on her clothes from his tribe and pleads to be rescued. In order to discipline his insubordination, one of Dragons opens the package, pulls out a thick braided whip and beats him ruthlessly into submission. When Sky sees this, she pretends to leave but come back at night undetected thanks to her wind powers to find the slave and promises to rescue him and the other slaves. Two weeks later, a perfect alibi arises when she's given a task to retrieve a package for the navy from the North Blue. The trip takes about a month by flight so it's enough time to save the slaves. She creates a wind clone to get the package while she heads back to Majoria and almost completely destroys the city in the process of freeing the slaves. She made herself look a natural, super strong storm so she wouldn't be spotted. She got the slaves onto different boats heading to the four blues, while she personally takes Arojo, the whipped slave, back to the Azcan tribe (she trained there to increase her speed and strength). Anaki, the one who trained her and the chief's daughter, was overjoyed to see her brother again. However, despite her protests, Sky thought it was best if she left so she wouldn't be traced to the tribe and risk them getting hurt. And now the story begins as she looks for a place to hide…

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I do not own One Piece © Eichiro Oda

I do own my original characters


	2. Chapter 1 -A place to lay low

"I know that Anaki didn't want me to leave and that no matter what the entire tribe would protect me for saving her brother, but that's why I had to leave. I couldn't risk the lives of everyone. If the world government and celestial dragons found out that I caused the storm and somehow traced my movements and relationship to them, they wouldn't stand a chance. I mean while I was at the Isle of Academia I had read about something called a "buster call" that could annihilate an island! No, this is the safe way, not necessarily the best way. But I wouldn't change anything I did, those pompous arrogant knuckleheads claiming that they had pure blood. I don't care if they were descendants of the originators of the world government, that doesn't entitle them to steal, kill, and destroy the lives of people and their families. Man, I should've let Satchaverral eat'em all. But then I'd be no better than them. I'm the bigger person and will not stoop to their level, lest I be like Eneru. Needless to say they got what they cultivated, they grew destruction and they reaped a huge harvest." I thought to myself as I continued flying with Rajon gliding by my side.

We've been flying since sunrise for a few hours to find a suitable place to lay low for a while, way out of the way of world government's reach. But all I kept seeing was cerulean ocean with no land **SQAWK** Rajon's cry brought me out of my perpetual staring. I looked at him to see what was up and he pointed with one of his black contour feathers to the horizon. I looked in the same direction and saw a mountainous island. "Oh, spoke too soon. What do you think buddy?" I asked him. "_Yea, I mean Uncle Don from those Ducktales stories you read always have the bad guys go to the mountains to get away" _he squawked in response. "Bad guys huh?" I asked slightly hurt. "_Hey! We're not bad guys! We're heroes! They just twist the rules around to make them the good guys!" _"Yea, you're right. I have God's righteousness and right people do right things." "Riiiight Thingssss" crackled Satchaverral. My bag may not be the most eloquent speaker but he gets his point across. "Alright, let's go!" I sped up and increased the wind velocity behind us. We arrived high above the island to find a suitable place to land. Upon closer inspection the island was quite lush, little bits of red and yellow dispersed among the greenery; I guess its fall time around here. The smell of pine was very potent and quite refreshing. But I shivered a little from the slight chill in the air thanks to that snowcapped mountain. "Better stay clear of that…" I muttered and I looked over at Rajon who was puffing up to keep warm. Then we descended a little bit to see a town inside the fjord. Or should I say kingdom since I noticed a large castle off on its own mini island to the side. "Probably not the best idea to drop in on a town in my dragon form" I said. So went around to the east side of the island and I saw five black rocks jutting out of ocean. They kind of looked like fingers, with the palm underwater. Then I heard Rajon making some subdued squawking noises that he only makes when he feels agitated. "Yea, Ray. Those rocks are giving me some bad vibes too. But hey, there's an unoccupied beach we can land on." So despite the bad juju we landed on the beach, with my wings kicking up some sand in the process. "ROOOOOAR!" I yelled as I stretched my arms and wings to the sky, flickering my claws. Flying for a long time tends to leave me stiff. Then I slowly transformed back to my human self. "So…what now?" I asked my flying partner as he landed on the sand next to me. "_Food!" _"You always want food, but that's not such a bad idea" I said as I rubbed my empty belly. "Got anything to eat, Satchaverral?" "…Nnnnoo" he meekly responded. Wow, I had now idea we were so low on supplies. I should've stocked up more before I went to free Arojo and send my wind clone to pick up that package from the North Blue for the Navy. I did that so I would have the perfect the alibi and have plenty of time to get him back to the Azcan tribe. I may be fast, but I can't fly in the rain, adds too much weight on my wings and gets too cold. Since the North Blue is usually stormy, it'll give me plenty of time for the incident to blow over. But back to our food situation, it's no big deal. I'm no stranger to roughing it plus since there is a kingdom I can stock up at their shops and rest at an inn. One perk of being the official (and only) deliverer of the government is that they pay really well and I've been saving every zenny. (Plus it doesn't hurt that a bunch of foolish pirate crews tried to challenge me. I beat them soundly, took all their treasure[which was a lot!] and collected their bounties) But I know Cap'n made sure that I was well taken care of while I was on my own for the next 3 years before I face him in duel to test me on what I've learned. "Well, the town is that way, so might as well get my running training out of the way and build up my appetite. Let's go get something to eat" Rajon squawked in agreement. As turned to face the forest behind the beach I heard a voice shout from the trees, "STOP DEMON!"

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I do not own One Piece © Eichiro Oda, Ducktales or Frozen © Disney; merely borrowing their elements to create a fantastical story.

I do own my original characters


	3. Chapter 2 - Unnexpected challenger

I looked around to see if there was someone else that the voice was talking to, but it was just me and Ray. When I took a step forward on the sand, the voice stuttered, "I-I mean it! You better stop or I'll slay you!" Ok, I was starting to get annoyed. First, I traveled such a long way. Second, my buddy and I were hungry. And third, this little punk doesn't even have the guts to face me. I took a deep a breath and said, "Look, I know where you are." To punctuate my statement I closed my eyes, lifted my arm straight out, and spread my fingers to use my wind powers to sense this guy's breathing. It wasn't that hard; I guess after I had said I knew where he was, he started to breathe faster. He was hiding behind a rather wide and weathered tree with its roots coming up from the ground. "Decent hiding spot" I thought as I hit it with a medium strength wind slash, just enough to remove the top layer of bark off one area and knock some multicolored leaves down (just because he's annoying me doesn't mean I want him dead). I heard him squeal and I smugly said, "Told ya. So, are you going to come out or am I gonna have to knock down the whole tree?" He didn't take any chances with my threat and stumbled out of the foliage. He was just a kid! No more than 10 years old. He was fair colored with a slight tan, dark copper colored hair and wearing a forest green short-sleeved tunic(definitely helps with camouflaging in this terrain) with what I'm guessing is a profile of a golden lion's head as a design. He also had a braided black belt with a little sheath for his sword… which he was now pointing at me. "You've got to be kidding me" I thought I watched his legs shake in his light brown shorts and dark green shoes. "I-I w-will" "You'll what?" I asked with my head cocked to one side and a hand on my hip. "As a knight of Arendelle I will beat you!" he squeaked. "Yea right" I thought to myself.

But something about this whole scenario seemed off. It's not the first time I've been challenged to a duel, and those opponents literally wanted to knock my head off. But this kid seemed like he didn't have any idea what to do; like a part of him didn't want to fight me because he didn't understand me and that he had just made a really bad assumption. I mean he could barely keep his sword up because it was too heavy. So I decided to test out my theory, if push comes to shove I can still beat him to a pulp. "Satchavarrel, give me _shadow panther"_ I said. My bag opened his mouth and I reached in pulling a dark blue sheathed katana. He gulped and a bit irked I said, "What? You knew that when you drew your sword, you knew this was fight was real. That you stand by your words of calling me a demon, judging me before you even got to know me." I drew out my black colored metal sword and pointed at him, with an "I'm not fooling around" look. I saw the color drain out of his face. Rubbing the blunt edge of my sword with my ring finger I said, "You know, every battle is started by words. Most of time misguided words when you don't know the whole story. Life and death is in the power of tongue. So what do you choose? To retract your words and make amends or battle with your convictions till your last breath?" He opened his mouth to try and say something but nothing came out, yet his sword stayed up (well, as up as it could get). I took a deep breath and said, "So that's your answer?...Fine. Rajon, hold Verral." He gave me a look asking, "_Are you serious?"_ "Don't worry" I whispered as I put Satchaverral's strap in his beak. Once he flew away a safe distance, I turned my attention to the frozen boy. I hitched my sheath through my own cotton belt with the awesome Jaguar futbol club belt buckle. Then with my sword at my side, I sped to him at half speed (which is still pretty fast to normal human standards) with a trail of dust behind me and **SHIING** sliced the top half of his sword clean off. The force of the hit knocked him to the grassy ground and the hilt half of his sword left his hand and landed somewhere far away from him. It took him a second to open his eyes, seeing me tower over him. His eye displayed so much regret, which surprised me. I thought they'd be full of fear. Nonetheless I held my sword with both hands on the leather-bound hilt straight down over his head. He was paralyzed, but willing his vocal chords to say anything. Well, nothing left to say as far as I'm concerned. I lifted my arms and **CRACK**

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I do not own One Piece © Eichiro Oda, Ducktales or Frozen © Disney; merely borrowing their elements to create a fantastical story.

I do own my original characters


	4. Chapter 3 - challenger reborn

I had to jerk my sword forward and back for a bit in order to pull it out of the ground. I brushed some of the dirt off of it and muttered to myself "Great, I hate cleaning grass stains." I moved off to the side of the boy; the whole area felt still for a few seconds, but it felt like an eternity as I waited to see if this kid would open his eyes. I motioned to Ray to fly over to me and when the sound of his fluttering wings came to a stop when he landed on my shoulder, the kid slowly, but finally, opened his eyes. He gave a loud gasp as he noticed me off to the side and started scrambling around and grabbing his head to see if he was really alive. Then he looked me in the eye and asked, "W-w-what?" I guess that was his attempt in asking how he was still alive. I pointed my sword at the ground and motioned for him to follow the direction of the point. His eyes expanded to the size of dilated panther pupils when he saw the small yet rather deep indent in the ground that was only a few centimeters away from where his head previously laid. He turned to face me again and asked, "W-why?" "Mercy" I simply replied. "Quite frankly I had every right to skewer your head to the ground. But I realized that there was something going on underneath this whole situation, and since you didn't want to talk I figured the only way to know what was up was to shock you into shutting up. And the fastest way to do that was to demonstrate how outmatched you were. So that begs the question, why did you challenge me out of the blue like that? I'm guessing you've seen me transform out of my dragon form when I landed on the beach." He nodded and I continued. "Have you heard of these special fruits called 'devil fruit'?" Then his eyes went wide with realization as he asked, "You have devil fruit powers?!" At least I didn't have to explain what the fruits were, where they come from or how people got powers from them. I don't even know that. "Yes" I answered "I have zoan type devil fruit powers from the drago drago fruit, elemental version." "So you're just like our king! He has devil fruit powers, but his turns him into a lion!" he exclaimed.

I was stunned and very annoyed. I know I wear my emotions on my sleeve and this kid already knew he was in trouble. Rubbing my fingers on my forehead I asked, "So let me get this straight. You know what these powers are and you've seen them in action, heck your KING has 'em, and you call me a demon?! If that's the case why don't you go and attack him since he just as much as a threat as I am! I don't care if that doesn't make sense, the point is we BOTH have beautiful yet very dangerous abilities and if something sets us off, it WILL end badly for the person on the receiving end of it. And we may not be in our right mind to show mercy!" I panted as I finished my rant and all he did was shrink down to the ground in shame. I put my sword back in its sheath and Rajon handed me my bag and I put it back in him. I sat on the ground across from him and asked, "So I ask again, why did you attack me out of the blue? I know me being a stranger with powerful abilities wasn't the reason." I just stared at him; Rajon was staring daggers at him. I mean his mom (me) could've been killed. He just sat on his knees with his head down, wringing his hand in his shorts.

We sat in silence for a few minutes; he better not be thinking that I'll get bored and walk away without any explanation. "Well?" I said losing my patience. That made him jump slightly and then he slowly lifted his head to meet my expectant glare. He took a deep breath and said, "I…had just started training to be a knight just like my dad. "Knights" in Arrendele are just like the navy of the world government." I shuddered when he mentioned the world government but he didn't notice as he continued, "Anyway, he's the king personal protector, not that he needs one, he's really strong like you. But he's also the captain of the guards and I was always amazed by some of the stories the other knights told about some of the missions they went on. So dad said I could train with Sir Lancelot, the knight molder, four months ago. Around that time another kid named Gawain started training along with me. He was always giving me a hard time, and not just me but other kids around southern Arrendele." "So he's the resident bully?" "Yea…but the thing is he always had the skill to back it up. I'm still on the rookie level while he's almost ready to be a knight in the squadron." "So, what changed today? I mean you've been putting up with his bad mouth for four months now, right?" He got quiet again and I heard some whimpering as if he were fighting back tears. Then he staggered out, "W-we just finished our sparring practice and I lost…again to him. I know I'm getting better every day because Sir Lancelot says I'm learning from my mistakes and I'm not making them anymore. But…it's just so slow! Gawain hardly make any mistakes and then he said, _'You're really stupid, you know that? The only reason Sir Lancelot is saying those things is to not make your dad think you're not the sorriest knight there ever was, even though we already know that. Maybe you could be a decent barnacle scraper since that's the only thing your sorry arms can use that sword for. I feel sorry for that sword, it belongs in the hand of a real knight.' He grabbed my dad's lion emblem sword and tried to take it from me but I said, "No! This is my dad's and he gave it to me because he believes in me!" 'Then your dad must cry a lot at night knowing that his prayer for a knight to follow in his footsteps won't be answered.'_

"That's what got me. To think that my family is ashamed of me, that they won't love me. So I ran. I needed to escape. Then I came to Greedy Hand Rock and saw you. Then I thought if I could kill a monster like how some of the knights had to vanquish deadly pirates then I would get some recognition." Then he covered his head with his arms, as if he were expecting some kind of retaliation from me (and believe me I was tempted to knock him upside the head all the way to the clouds) but instead I let of all he told me sink in. Then I moved next to him and did something that I knew he wasn't expecting. I pulled him into a side hug and ruffled his hair a bit. It's how I show affection because that's what Cap'n would always do to me to let me know everything was ok. And I guess he got the message because he clutched my chest and started sobbing into my shirt saying, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" over and over again. Once he got his breathing under control I didn't beat around the bush when I said, "I don't know if knew this but when you kill a devil fruit user, the essence of that fruit leaves the person's body and reincarnates back into fruit. So if you killed me, regardless if I had powers or not, you would have committed murder; killing an innocent person." That shook him to the core and he started crying again. "I-I'm s-supposed to **hic** protect good people from **hic** bad people. A-and I almost **hic** became one!" I continued stroking his head as I said, "Words are a powerful things. Before we do any action, we think the words and then say it. They're like water, when you drink good words and allow them to come into you, it gives life. And just like there's clean, healthy water, there's bitter, nasty water that'll suck the life out of you like poison. So it's up to you whether or not to drink good words or bad words. And it seems to me that you've been drinking wayyy too much bitter water." "Yea…" he sniffed "I was just…" "Why?" I cut him off. "Why do you try to live up to the expectation of those who have it out for you? Nothing you do will ever change their minds. Why do need their seal of approval? They don't have any wisdom to help you excel in training. They spread lies. They're sure as heaven not going to do you any favors. So why do you need to measure up to their standards when all its doing is making you fail?" He didn't have an answer, but I had one for him. "The only reason Gawain or anyone else is bringing you down is because of your strong spirit. Your spirit of love to protect all you care about and even your enemies is truly remarkable." I saw a small smile form as I continued, "Their spirit level isn't as high as yours and instead of working hard to train it like you do, and they take the coward's way and try to break you down so they can seem higher, even though they didn't grow at all." He wiped his tears on his arm and stared at me, looking like a thirsty flower staring at a single rain cloud to provide it with the sustenance it needed. "Besides, the only words you need to concern yourself with are those from God since he only thinks good things about you and loves you unconditionally. I don't know if you believe or not but in any case get your good water from those who truly care about you, and remember correction is also a form of love. In turn give good water to everyone you meet. Who knows? You words could be the thing that person needs to prevent them from doing something they'll regret for the rest of their lives." I noticed that his puffy eyes were getting shiny again, but not from regret. They were beginning to fill with hope. "And you can add me to your circle of those that believe in you, so long as you don't judge others before you know them; you don't know what they could going through. That's why everyone deserves good water, even Gawain. Be the bigger guy." He nodded and gave me another hug. He broke the embrace and we both stood up while Rajon got off my shoulder; I brushed the sand and grass blades off of my clothes. I pulled on my shirt where the boy cried on to see how wet it was. It was soaked. "Sorry…" he mumbled as he looked off to the side. I laughed and said, "Don't worry about it, that's what washing machines are for." He looked back at me; either he was astounded that I could laugh off this whole situation or that I was crazy. I went with the first one since he gave a small laugh too. "It's amazing how we can make new friends, huh?" "F-friend? Me?" he questioned not believing what I had just said. "Sure, why not? Unless you don't want to." "No! I mean yes! I mean, I do! I want to be friends!" "Then let's do it right." I said as Rajon flew back on my shoulder and I extended my hand out. "My name is Sky Darius. And these are my buddies, Rajon and Satchaverral (holding up my bag)." The boy took my hand and said, "M-my name is Alrik Hunterman. Nice to meet you." We both smiled as we gave each other a couple of shakes. I guess we found a good place to land after all.

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Hey everyone! Thanks so much for the views, I had no idea this site extended all over the world! So cool! Anyway, I'm glad you guys are enjoying it and soon enough our new favorite princesses will appear. Still getting used to the format system on this thing, so bare with me. Be blessed!


	5. Chapter 4 - welcome to Arendelle

_**GRRRRROWL**_ The friendly atmosphere was broken when my tummy rumbled in hunger. I don't understand why people are embarrassed when their tummies growl in front of other people; when you're hungry, you're hungry. "Hey Alrik? Can you show me the way to town and a good place to eat?" "Sure, I know a really good spot to eat! C'mon!" he grabbed his two broken sword halves and put them in his sheath. We started walking along the forest path; everything looks so different on the ground than in the air. He sure was pepped up after our little talk; I guess him knowing that he could help someone in need gave him a confidence boost. And you know what? That made me feel good too. But the gooey goodness feeling was fading fast when my tummy rumbled again. "Wait" I said. "What's wrong?" "We need to move faster, I tend to get a little…agitated when I'm hungry." Rajon squawked in agreement. "So just hold still and **please** don't freak out." He stared at me, curios as to what I was going to do. I handed my bag to Rajon and he got off of my shoulder; then a sudden whirlwind appeared. I saw him uncover his eyes from behind his hands once there wasn't a whole lot of leaf and dirt debris in the air. Then he looked around and shouted, "Sky?! Where did you go?!" "I'm right here…" I said as I opened my eyes. I'm glad he wasn't freaking out because I'm sure any sane person would if they saw a pair of floating, pupil-less blue eyes. But it didn't stop him from having his mouth open to the size of a man-hole cover.

Unbeknownst to a whole lot people, save for me, Cap'n, Rajon, and Satchaverral, I have power from two devil fruits. The drago drago fruit and the gale gale fruit, which lets me control wind and air. Cap'n always told me to **never** tell anyone that I have two devil fruit powers because not only will people possibly see me as a threat (I mean Alrik was about to take my head off after seeing my standard dragon form) but the world government might try to "persuade" me to be on their side. But it actually works out well since I can incorporate the gale gale fruit into one of my forms and create the wind dragon, so it's perfect camouflage. And that's exactly what I am now. I figured it'd be safer if I came in invisible instead of having one of my other forms approach the city limits and have everyone try to skewer me (not like they could though).

I focused my power into creating a small whirlwind on the ground, stirring up some leaves in the process. "You see where the leaves are spinning on the ground?" He nodded. "I want to jump into that and don't move out of the circle of leaves." He clutched his sword sheath in hesitation. He looked at the small cyclone, back at my eyes, and back at the cyclone. "It's ok. Trust me." I assured him. And to punctuate my statement, Rajon landed behind him and pushed his calves to make him stumble forward. Or he was just tired of waiting for him to move. Slowly, Alirk made his way to the mini whirlwind. Then with all his remaining courage, he clutched his sword sheath and jumped on in. **Thud** He landed in the middle of it but stayed in a slightly hunched position. He cracked one eye open to see if everything ok, then slowly stood up straight and opened his other eye. "See? That wasn't so bad." I said. I guess he could feel my smile, because he gave a small chuckle back. "Now just stay still, and relax" I slowly increased the wind velocity around him and began lifting him off the ground. But it didn't ruffle his clothes or hair. I basically had him in a wind cocoon, comes in very handy when blowing back objects coming at your from all sides. Slowly we made our way above the trees, with Rajon carrying Satchaverral in tow. "Wooooow…." I heard him say. "Nice view huh?" I asked. He gave little laughs in approval. Since we were high enough, I could see where the town was but, "So, where's a safe place to land?" That brought him out of his wonderment and he started to look around, "Ummmm…Oh! Right there, see where the row of stone towers are?" I looked to his left and saw the interspersed towers. "Yea." "Those are border towers that connect our iron fence to keep out wild animals, mainly mountain lions. If we land on the other side of the fence, we'll be on the outskirts of town." "Wait…isn't there an opening for travelers?" "Yea, right between those two red and white towers. But there are guards there and I figured you didn't want to explain how you landed on the island without anyone seeing you since all visitors typically arrive by boat on the north or south coast. Plus very few people use that entrance during this time of year since wild animals tend to come closer to the border." "And you took that entrance and ran through all that danger?" "Errr…yea. I wasn't thinking." "_That's for sure" _I thought to myself. "Well, sounds like a plan so let's go" I said and sped through the canopy, causing the trees to sway in my wake.

It only took a minute tops to reach our destination and I carefully set Alrik down on the ground while I returned to my human form. "Wow that was so cool!" I blushed a little when he said that, then he grabbed my hand and said, "Well, what we are waiting for? Let's go!" But I had to hold him back. "We're waiting on them." I said pointing my thumb to the sky. Then Rajon came gliding on down and landed on my shoulder; he handed me my bag and I replied, "Now we can go. Lead the way, Alrik." Just like a kid wanting to show their parents a surprise, he almost dislocated my shoulder as he dragged me toward southern Arendelle.


	6. Chapter 5 - The Tour

"Welcome to Southern Arendelle!" my guide exclaimed. I had to admit, this place was pretty impressive. It was a nice combination of dispersed farmland on the outskirts and a not too crowded through-fare as we went further in. It was like…a rather large village with nature incorporated into their town design, almost like Sequioa Island. They sure did like color though, I mean it looks like the architects wanted to make sure they used every color on an artist palate, but they seemed to favor shades of green. That and they liked to have most of the buildings have pointy roofs. Anyway, to each place its own. We arrived in the center of town and all the different aromas from different restaurants made my mouth water more than dual lion water fountain we were standing against. "Ummm…This way!" He jerked my body in the direction he wanted to go and we ended up at this outdoor eatery. "Gump Boys Fish Co.?" I asked as I read the sign. "Yea! This place has some of the best seafood sandwiches, all with hand-me-down recipes going back generations!" "Whaddaya mean 'some'? We have _all_ the best sammiches around" said a gruff voice behind us. We turned around and Alrik immediately recognized the large man carrying large sacks of various ingredients. "Hey Greg!" and he gave him a hug. "Hold your hugs after I put down my stuff, boy. So I can give one proper like." Alrik released his hold on the rather muscular gentleman and then he turned his attention to me. He was caramel-colored like me, but had green eyes. He had a shaved head and a really thick black beard, almost as if something could live in it. "You're a new face around here, and a pretty one at that." Then he lowered himself down to my level and looked right in my eyes. "And a strong-willed one at that. You must have one heck of a back story." He set one of his bags down on the rustic, sandstone colored brick road and gave me a few pats on the head. "I like ya, what's your name?" "Sky Darius, and these are my buddies Rajon and Satachaverral." Rajon squawked out his version of saying hi and Satachaverral gave a raspy hello. "Well, a talking bag! See something new every day." He gave a big smile as stood back up straight with his bags. "Hey Greg, are you still open?" Alrik asked. "'Course I am. Just had to close up for a tick. That lunch rush cleaned me out good so I had get some supplies until me shipment comes tomorrow. Why?" And right on cue my tummy let itself be heard. "Oh, that's why. Don't you worry Sky, I'll take care of ya. Just tell ol' Greg whatcha want." We went over to the counter while he went inside to store his items. Alrick handed me a one-sided menu. At this point I'm so hungry that even the menu looked good. "What do you normally get?" I asked him. "I get the Shrimp Po' Boy." "Po' Boy?" "Yea! He crispifies the shrimp, no deep fry, so it's nice and tender and puts it on his homemade wheat bread with some baked fries coupled with his secret ketchup." "Sounds good to me. Does he have any raw fish?" "Yea, he and his partners go out fishing every morning and whatever they catch, they serve. It just so happens that Arrendelle is the largest supplier of seafood in the diamond kingdom archipelago." "Yep, sure is" said Greg as he stepped out to the counter. "So, what can I do you for?" "I have that Shrimp Po' Boy and Rajon will have a plate full of sardines, if you have any." "'Course I do! Just caught me some. Now it'll take 'bout 15 minutes for your food to be ready. I'll give ya something to much on in the meantime." "That's fine, but give Rajon his food first please." "_No way!" _he squawked. "What? I thought you were hungry?" _"I am, but I eat when you eat."_ I smiled at him. "Never mind, he said he'll eat when I do." "A noble bird ya got there. I'll come back with some munchies."

He went back to kitchen and started preparing our meal. A few minutes later he came back with wrapped silverware and a small saucer full of this…jellified stuff. He set it down in front of me and I just stared at it. I poked at it with my finger and it jiggled back and forth. "What's this?" I innocently asked. "It's our national food, lutefisk!" he proclaimed. "Uh…Greg? Are you **sure** you want to give her that?" Alrik asked. "Why? What's wrong with it?" I asked. "Nothing. It's just…an acquired taste." Well at this point I was too hungry to care, so I unwrapped the silverware from the napkin, stuck my fork into a piece and quickly put it in my mouth. "_WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?!"_ I screamed in the back of my mind. I'm known for wearing my emotions on my sleeves, so I'm sure I had a look of pure grossness all over my face. I couldn't even give it one bite before I spit it out. I know it's not polite but at least they know not to give me seconds. Greg was just laughing his head off as he took the plate away from me. "Yep, that's what usually happens when newcomers try lutefisk. I'm always keen on finding someone new who'll like it, but so far, no luck." _"Gee, I wonder why. That tasted like Vaseline mixed with rotten eggs!" _I thought to myself as I drank the water he gave me to get the taste out of my mouth. He back into the kitchen to finish making my meal. Alrik shrugged and gave me a sympathetic smile as he said, "Sorry. He likes to do that to new people. You're the first one I've seen to spit it out though. Others try to swallow it and say it wasn't bad." "Well, being honest is in my nature. Truth may hurt others for a minute but they grow with the knowledge instead of living on a lie." He nodded wholeheartedly in agreement. _"But if he ever tries that stunt again, I'll burn his whole place to the ground!"_ my food deprived mind thought as I glared daggers at the kitchen entrance. But I was broken out of my hunger hating mode when a large plate with two po'boys and fries appeared in front of me, coupled with an equally large plate of sardines for Rajon. We said grace and I didn't waste any time tearing into my meal. It was DELICIOUS! Just the way the savory shrimp was soooo soft with a delicate crunch, combined with slightly sweet bread and tangy ketchup was just sooooo gooood! And Rajon was enjoying his meal because he was scarfing them down like there was no tomorrow. I had a happy plate and a happy tummy as I patted it contently; Rajon followed suit. Greg smiled as he took our plates away. "Like it, did ya?" "Mmm-hm." I nodded and then covered my mouth as a little burp escaped my lips. "Glad to hear it!" "So, how much do I owe you Mr. Greg?" "Nadda, and don't call me 'Mr.', makes me sound old." "Really?" "Yep, nadda a dang thing. I told, I like you. Next time you swing around I'd love to hear your backstory. That's why I went into the restaurant biz, to serve the food I love and swap stories. And besides" he then turned Alrik and gave a stern look, "What kinda man are ya to not treat a lady?" "Ah..well…um…" he had no comeback. "Well, you can make it up to me by showing me around town some more." I said as I tried to bail him out. "Sounds like a plan to me. Get to it!" Greg said. Alrik hopped out of his seat and grabbed my hand to lead me to wherever else. I had to hold him back again to wait for Rajon to flutter onto my shoulder. I looked back and said, "Thanks again!" Greg waved and replied, "Anytime, Sky! See ya around!"

"Thanks for the save. Believe me, I would've liked to pay for your meal, but I only get so much for allowance… and I owe you some much for what you did for me back there…" Then something clicked in his head when he said, "I know what I can do! You can stay at my house for as long as you want! I'm sure mom and dad won't mind. And we have plenty of room and we'll take good care of you!" Well, who am I to turn down free…anything really. Unless it's that god-forsaken lutefisk. So I continued to follow him around town, and he showed me more shops, where all the boats dock in the fjord harbor, and the building where the knights train. He said he wasn't ready to go back in just yet and I understood. So we went up a couple of hillsides until we reached his home. It wasn't all pointy like all the buildings in the main thoroughfare, but instead it was wooden and brick combo ranch house. With a nice sized front yard, neatly trimmed I might add. We walked up to the front door and Alrik pulled out his house key opened the mahogany door. "Mom! I'm home!" I followed behind him and took in my surroundings. The ceilings had wooden beams and were quite high. I noticed that there were quite a few old swords hanging on the walls; I guess they belonged to other knights in their family. In the middle was a large sitting room with various couches, I wanted to plop on one so bad. Off to the side was an impressive kitchen with hanging spices, utensils, gas stove top, black refrigerator and a nice hearth oven built into the wall (not like those old fashioned ones that looked like a hole in the ground). And the smell of whatever was cooking filled the whole house, and it smelled great. It's been so long since I've been in a family home…I kinda made me tear up bit because it made me think of mom and dad. "Hey Sky? Is everything ok?" he asked. That brought me back to my senses as I wiped the moisture out of my eyes. "Yea…I'm good. Just thinking about my home…that's all." Rajon rubbed his head against my face a let out a soft cooing sound. I stroked his head softly to let him know I appreciated the gesture. I'm glad he didn't press any further about it but instead started calling for his mom again. "Hey mom? You here?" "Yes, I'm here!" I heard a voice coming from somewhere further down the house. I walked over to the wall of swords to examine closer. A moment later, his mom appeared. She was strong woman with the same copper colored hair and muscular arms and sprinter legs, I wonder if she's a knight too? But I guess she's gonna need all those muscles since she was pregnant. She was wearing a stretch lavender tunic with a sash tied underneath her belly along with light blue pants that had some grass stains on them. She had a basket of something in one arm. "Mom, where were you?" "I needed some more thyme so I picked some." "Mooom…" She rolled her eyes and said "Now don't you start babying me too. Until my feet swell up to the size of watermelons I am perfectly fine. You're just as bad as your father." Once she set the basket down on the kitchen counter, she looked over to the direction of the living room and saw me. "Oh my! I'm so sorry sweetie, I didn't see you there. Alrik! Why didn't you tell me we had a guest, and such a pretty young girl at that?" I blushed; I've always been complemented on my looks but I try to remain humble about it. "Don't worry about it, I should've spoken up sooner but I didn't want to interrupt your conversation." "Oh, you're just so sweet! Come here." I didn't have a chance to walk far before she came over to where I was and enveloped me in hug. I love hugs and I'll take'em where I can get'em. Once we broke the embrace she asked, "So sweetie, what's your name? I don't think I've seen you in town before." "My name is Sky Darius and these are my buddies, Rajon and Satchaverral. I just arrived here a few hours ago." "Well, it's very nice to meet all of you. So tell me dear, how did you meet my son?" Well this was going to be a _very_ awkward conversation.


End file.
